God Eater 3 - Starling Start
by Sprogster85
Summary: Join our protagonist, Aurick Bird/Pennywort, through the God Eater 3 story
1. Chapter 1 - Introduction

God Eater 3 – Starling's Start

Chapter 1 – Introduction

Name: Aurick Bird

Codename: Starling

Hairstyle: Type 2

Hair Colour: Dark purple

Face: Type 4

Eyes: Type 4

Eye Colour: Fox Brown

Accessories: Frizz 2 (Dark Purple)

Voice: 8

So, we're starting a God Eater 3 Fanfic, even though I haven't even finished my GE2RB fanfic yet. I will get back to it, I just haven't had the inspiration to do it yet. Hopefully working on this fanfic will inspire me to get back to doing the last few chapters I have planned for it. Regardless, I hope you enjoy this fanfic.

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN THE GOD EATER FRANCHISE.

Also, please leave a review.

"I never expected to find anyone out here." A husky voice croaks out of a fairly muscular man whose jacket shines in under the moonlight.

"So, what now?" My friend responds to the man. His voice does not betray the confidence he feels. I, on the other hand, do not share the same confidence as my friend, Hugo. I decide to stay quiet and let Hugo do all the talking.

"Now, you'll share the same fate as those that you left behind." The same man replies to Hugo with a stern, yet humoured voice. He must have found our attempt to escape funny. Honestly, he scares me, but not as much as the men and few women that surround us. They move forward step by step until there's no more than a metre between us all. Hugo and I are completely surrounded.

"Tsk." Hugo utters in disdain. However, like me, he is unmoving, and we let the people reach us without hitting back at them.

"Smart move, boys." The man speaks up as his subordinates capture us. "If you had fought us, you would have been shot. In a way, I kinda wish you had tried to escape again." A smirk crosses the man's face. Hugo and I both know that he isn't above murdering kids like us. After all, when he and his gang arrived in our little settlement merely an hour ago, he had tried to get us to go with him peacefully. However, when that didn't work, he shot the people that were opposed to him. Leaving us no choice to try and escape if we didn't want to be taken by these men. With the people surrounding us, there was no option to escape at all. We only had two choices; go with this guy or be killed. And so, Hugo and I are forced to walk with our captors, along with the kids that chose not to resist these people. The blood of many was spilled today, and it's something I won't forget.

"Hey, you. How about you let us see your face? I want to know the faces of my new soldiers." As soon as the husky voice of the man reaches my ears, I feel a sharp tug on my hood that was covering my face. At the same time, the scarf I was wearing to hide the lower half of my face is torn away from me. A few seconds pass as I feel the eyes of the crew stare at me. Those seconds feel like minutes as we continue being frogmarched. "Hmm." I hear the husky voice of the leader hum as he takes in the sight. I already know what they're looking at. There's only one reason why I cover my face, and that's so people don't see my bright purple hair. "Hey kid, are you the unique kind?" Again, I already know what he's talking about. I've had to put up with this sort of thing for a long time.

"I-I…" I can't speak up though, despite how irritated I am that my brightly coloured hair has been exposed for these goons to gawk at, I'm still in a pretty scary situation.

"Purple is his natural hair colour. What, you think that we'd find something to colour his hair with in our situation?" Hugo chimes in for me and I allow myself to breathe again, something I was unaware that I had stopped doing due to the fright.

"Somebody punish that brat for his sarcasm." The man says it so easily, as if he's given out these demands before. I care very little about that though, as the next thing I see is my friend knocked out cold after one of the man's goons hit him in the back of the head with their gun. I run straight over to Hugo in a panic.

"Come on, Hugo, get up." I speak quietly, remembering that we're currently in a bad situation.

"Listen up, kid!" The group comes to a stop as the man makes his way towards us. "Next time, you'll answer for yourself! Understand?!" A nod is all I can muster in response. "Speak boy!"

"Y-Yes." I manage to utter, beginning to feel weak under the sharp gaze of a man that can do a lot of damage to me if I did anything to go against him. After a few seconds of silence, the man's gaze is turned towards Hugo.

"You've got two options, kid." He looks at me again as he speaks. "You can either leave him here, or you can carry him. I've got no room for kids that will fight back." He quickly turns away and takes his position at the front of the pack. I know exactly what he meant by those words; he doesn't care about whether my friend makes it back to this guys' hideout. No, the only reason that Hugo isn't dead yet is because he knows that Hugo is my support. Without Hugo, he won't have me either. But, why does he want me that much? Am I just looking too much into this? Or is there a reason why he needs me specifically? Regardless of the answer, I quickly, but carefully, throw one of Hugo's arms over my shoulder and help walk him to walk with our group.

A short while later, Hugo regains consciousness and begins walking on his own. Giving me a smile in response after he calculates what happened. It isn't too much later that we find out what our destination is. A Port. Or more specifically Pennywort Port. Realistically, I should have been able to guess that we were heading to some sort of Port. There were always posters on walls trying to recruit kids to join Ports and help "save the world". As if kids like us could do that. So, I shouldn't be surprised that these Ports have people go out in search of others to join them. That is, if they can successfully become AGES.

As our group walks into Port Pennywort, we're immediately split up. I begin to panic as I see Hugo being marched away by a couple of people, but he turns back and gives me a smile,

"I'll see you soon." He says. However, I'm much more of a pessimist than he is. During our journeys, he was always the one to keep my spirits up. Now though, we've been separated.

"You'd best hope he survives, or you'll never see him again." The stern, husky voice of the leader of the kidnappers rings in my head as I come to understand his words. For some reason, this guy is in charge of me. I feel like I'd be in much safer hands if anyone else was in charge of me. I feel as though this guy has taken an interest in me, and I really have to say that I hope it isn't the case.

Ten minutes pass by before I'm forced to follow the same path that my friend walked down a short time earlier. The walls are barren and brown and lack much light, but as I eventually come to a door guarded by two people, I see Hugo staggering his way out of the room. His footsteps are short and easily show his fatigue. He eventually comes to a stop, a few metres away from me, and raises his head. Uttering a small, tired chuckle as he sees me. He looks like he's been through a ton of shit in the room I'm about to head into.

"Don't look so worried." He speaks confidently, but slightly short of breath. "We're not gonna die, I promise you that." He brings his arms up to solidify his words, but he unknowingly shows off a pair of Gauntlets on his wrists. His words, though, bring me a small amount of courage. Hugo was able to survive the ordeal he's just undergone, so I can too. I bring one of my own arms up and we give each other a fist pump. As we do this though, one of the guards walks towards us, before shoving Hugo out of the way. This isn't a friendly place.

"Next is… PW01408. That's you." The man speaks as he reads off of a device that looks similar to the electronic tablets Hugo and I were able to scavenge a long time ago. The man takes me by the scruff of my neck and into the room.

"Good luck, buddy." I hear Hugo trying to support me as I'm forced to sit in a seat, staring at the door I've just walked through. I manage to have a look around and see that the man is staring intently at me. I stare at my arms and see that I've actually been locked into the chair. There's no chance of escape and I can feel my heart begin to race.

"We will now begin the AGE aptitude test. Please try to relax." I can't help but panic slightly as the machine tells me to relax. "Stage one. Inducing Ashblight corruption." As soon as the feminine voice that emits from the machine finishes its sentence, I feel a sharp pain in my left arm, as if something had stabbed into my veins.

"Ngh… Argh…" The pain is unbearable and I can't help but squirm in the seat that I'm locked into. I see that black smoke as well as yellow tendrils and worming its way out of my wrist and around them.

"Ashblight corruption has been confirmed. Now progressing to stage two. Mounting God Arc." Despite the pain in my left arm, I manage to turn my head to my right where I see the machine lining up a God Arc with my right hand, but only after it swings in front of me and makes me think for a second that there's a fault with the machine and that I'm about to die. As the pain in my left wrist subsides, I reach out to the God Arc with my right hand, grabbing at its handle. A second later, my arm is clamped inside of the machine and inside of a gauntlet.

"Urrrgh… Auuugh!" The grunts escape me as I begin writing in pain once again. Black smoke bathes my right wrist as the machine continues to do its process,

"Progressing to stage three. Final stage. Implanting Adaptive Oracle Cells." I turn my head to see my left wrist, grunting through the pain of how heavy my head feels. I only have one gauntlet on at the moment, and I remember seeing Hugo had one in each wrist, so that means a similar thing is going to happen to my left wrist, again. Just as the machine finishes its sentence, the other gauntlet snaps onto my wrist and I can't help the anguished scream that escapes my mouth.

"Gahhhh!" The black smoke and yellow tendrils seem to fade into my left wrist and I feel my breath beginning to return to me. "*pant*… *pant*…"

"Status confirmed." As the machine speaks again, I take the time to look over my new accessories. "Ashblight corruption had been neutralised. Subject's vitals have returned to normal. Aptitude… is positive. Congratulations. The process is complete. You are now an Adaptive God Eater."

"So you survived…" As soon as I hear the man who dragged me into this room speak, my attention is turned towards them. He looks at the electronic tablet and seems to be in a minor amount of shock. "Grade A… Huh, we haven't seen your kind around here before." The shock quickly fades. "How does it feel to give up your humanity." The machine releases me as he speaks, and I quickly find myself hurtling towards the ground. Thankfully, I'm able to clutch onto the God Arc and slowly try to coax myself into a standing position. However, my legs are too weak after all the pain I've just went through and I find myself collapsing onto the floor anyway.

"Hey, don't go and croak on us, okay?" I hear the man speaking again as I try to regain the energy to lift myself back onto my feet. "Your life belongs to the Port now. You're of no use dead. Here, I'm going to need you to sign this contract." He lowers it to me as I raise my head to it. I fumble around for a second of two before I manage to make my way onto my knees, taking the contract from the man. Without even reading through it, I sign the contract on the bottom with my name:

Aurick Bird

Just before my consciousness fades, I'm able to see the boots of the leader of the kidnappers as he walks into the room.

"Grade A, huh? I knew there was something special about you, kid." As the man speaks my consciousness fades.

"C'mon, let's go." I blink my eyes in rapid succession to break myself away from a sleepy state. As I turn towards the speaker, I see Hugo standing before me shrugging as he waits for me to sit up and get ready for a mission. He's much taller than he was during my dream of our first day here. Now, we've been here for what feels like forever. Judging by the difference in our heights compared to the heights of ourselves during my dream, I'd say it's been at least ten years since we arrived here. "Hey, you okay?" I turn to Hugo as he speaks, spinning my legs over the side of my bed as I try to wake myself up properly. "You seem pretty out of it. Bad dream or something?"

"Something like that." I speak up, something I'm still not too used to doing. I definitely speak more than I did when I was a child, but I still wouldn't regard myself as an active talker.

"Anyway, rise and shine. I went ahead and asked about our next job." Hugo sits on my bed as he speaks. "It's in a pretty thick spot. Looks like there's not too much time left for you and me, huh?" He's right, we've been getting worse and worse missions lately. Soon enough, we'll meet our maker and probably die on the battlefield.

"Fighting in ash this thick will ruin a body in no time. And if we can't work? Well, I doubt the folks at the Port will want to look after us. Eventually, we're either going to run out of the bias factor we need to live… Or we'll end up as Aragami snacks, or bait, and… that'll be that. A time-honoured end for AGEs like you and me." In response to his words, I give him a stern look. "Yeah, well, that's not gonna happen to us. I promise." I give a supporting nod to show that I'm with him. Hugo is my leader now, just like he was in the past. If we're a team, there's nothing that can stop us. "After all, we've got too much riding on our shoulders… We'll keep going for the ones we couldn't save." As Hugo says this, I can't help but turn my head to the pictures on the wall of the AGEs that are no longer with us. "It's a vow I made to them all; I'm never going to give up, no matter what happens. So, that's that." He turns towards me. "We are not dying."

"Of course not." I give a smile along with my words, standing up from my bed as the drowsiness fades from my mind.

"The two of us will keep moving forward… On to whatever tomorrow brings."


	2. Chapter 2 - Tutorials

God Eater 3 – Starling's Start

Chapter 2 - Tutorials

Name: Aurick Bird

Codename: Starling

Hairstyle: Type 2

Hair Colour: Dark purple

Face: Type 4

Eyes: Type 4

Eye Colour: Fox Brown

Accessories: Frizz 2 (Dark Purple)

Voice: 8

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN THE GOD EATER FRANCHISE.

Also, please leave a review.

"I wonder if we'll be fighting soon." I hear a voice coming from the corner of the room. The owner of the voice is a young, male child named Marr. He sports a black vest along with murky brown shorts with black accents. "I-I'm not scared! Honest!" At the sound of silence, the boy begins to panic and tries to downplay his worries.

"You won't be fighting." Hugo speaks up with a confident and determined voice, still standing beside me. "Not as long as I can help it." He tries to quell Marr's worries, but judging by the lack of positivity from the young boy's face Hugo's words probably didn't reach him.

"I need to go pick up rubbish again." The depressed, feminine voice of the child standing near to Marr tries to change the topic of conversation to their next mission. This young girl wears an oversized black jacket with light purple accents which matches the colour of her leggings. The girl also wears a light purple hat, her blonde hair tucked inside of it, with black goggles over the top of it. Of course, all the children complete their missions together. There is safety in numbers after all. "Please let there be no Aragami… Please let there be no Aragami…" Unbelievably, these children are sent out into dangerous conditions just to collect materials that may be of use to the Port. These children are AGEs like Hugo and I, but they are significantly less able to fight with their God Arcs due to their small, weak bodies. Hugo and I were like that once, and we were told time and time again that we would be lucky to reach adulthood. Thankfully, we were lucky, but we did have to leave many others behind. We've seen many people die due to Aragami attacks or even due to mistreatment from the Port. We've seen kids die too, and unfortunately, another kid seems to be at death's doorstep.

"*cough* *cough* *cough* *pant* *pant* *cough*" The lungs of Sho make us aware of his presence in the room. "Ah ha ha… I'll be fine." The small boy with black hair informs us through bated breath. He tightens his grip on his dark purple scarf wrapped around his neck which hides part of his white jacket. Looking down, I see his murky purple trousers stick to his legs due to the boy's sweat. It's clear to see that Sho is in a very sickly condition, yet he is being forced to gather materials despite his condition. "You don't have to worry about me." He tries to speak in confidence, but the way his voice wavers shows that he's holding back another coughing fit.

"I'm sure you'll beat that cold in no time, sport." Hugo tries to cheer him up. I give a nod of my head to show that I agree with Hugo.

"Hey!" An angered voice accompanies the rattles of the cage bars that keep us locked up in here. "Don't you have a job to do?!" The guard shouts to Hugo and I from the other side of the bars where he is safe from us. "Insubordination will get you locked up with no guarantee you'll get out." I feel Hugo's hand on my shoulder as he directs my attention away from the guard and to the large monitor in our prison cell where we are informed of our missions.

"You can double check the details on the monitor." We walk closer to it as he speaks, his hand leaving my shoulder as we do so. "They said it's high-density ash acclimation. Get prepped at the terminal and let's move out." He informs me and I turn my attention to the terminal located in our prison cell. Once I log into it, I'm greeted with multiple options. I click on the first option which says 'Loadout' and browse through my options.

After a little deliberation, I finally decide on selecting the Ammit Ring P (Melee Form), the Ammit Laser P (Gun Form) and the Ammit Tower P (Shield Form). Once I've finished deciding my loadout, I walk up to the monitor and wait for further instruction.

"Ash density certification is requested for new zones of action." Judging by the machine's voice, we'll be scouting out a new combat area. "Please execute acclimation programs 216 through 234." As the voice finally shuts up, I take the initiative in looking up the mission in more detail:

_Old City: Chapel_

_D1 Certification – Ash Density Certification_

_Objective: Acclimatise to dense ash_

_Due to the scheduled operations in high-density environments, the following personnel are required to complete this program._

_-PW-01408  
-PW-01407_

Judging by the way this mission briefing is worded, there will be a lot more missions in the near future that require us to head out into environments that are heavy with ash. Currently, Hugo and I have been operating in areas that have had little to no ash density, so we've been able to handle missions fine. I guess this means that we've been promoted to more dangerous environments now. After checking the monitor, I give a nod of my head to Hugo as we walk towards the guard on the opposite side of the bars.

"Heading out? Don't worry. If you don't come back, I can easily replace the whole lot of ya." I really dislike this guard. He has effectively just said that he was listening to the kids' conversation about not wanting to have to fight Aragami in high-density ash fields, and implied that if we die, the kids will take our place for the rest of our missions. Something of which I would not be comfortable with. "You better not think about making a will, either. I refuse to deal with the paperwork." Yeah, this guy is a cunt. "I'm opening the door now." The guard speaks as he unlocks the door and forces us out of the prison before locking the door and leaving the kids alone so he can accompany us to our destination. As it so happens, Hugo and I are told to walk all the way to our mission location as the Port does not want to waste fuel in getting us to our destination. So, with our suitcases containing our God Arcs in an inactive form in hand, we walk to the Old City about 90 minutes away on foot.

We eventually arrive at the Old City and the scenery around us brings back so many memories. There are so many wrecked, empty buildings in the area, some of which appear to be very unstable and could fall down at any moment. Already there is some rubble from buildings that no longer stand where they once did. Lava-like scorch marks litter almost every structure, suggesting a very power Aragami with the Blaze attribute devastated this place in the past. I truly wonder what this city looked like before it was destroyed. Although, it was destroyed a very long time ago, seeing as how Hugo and I had made a settlement here around ten years ago, before we were kidnapped and forced to join Port Pennywort. The two of us drop our suitcases containing our God Arcs and allow them to hit the ground with a thud as we take a brief moment's respite as we survey the area.

"Damn it! I can't see!" Hugo's attention is brought to the battlefield as we hear a person's voice through our communication lines. I join him in trying to find the person on the battlefield, but we have no luck in doing so. "Where is it? Where's the Aragami?"

"Our lines are crossed. What team are you with?" Hugo remains calm despite the other man's panic. For as long as I've known him, he's always been good at keeping calm. Even when we were kidnapped ten years ago, he was calm. On our first mission hunting Aragami he was calm. It took me a long time before I could control my emotions like Hugo does. I'd like to think that's just one way he's had a positive effect on me.

"Requesting salvage!" The panic in the man's voice becomes even more apparent as his voice shakes when he speaks, realising that a person can hear him on his communication line. "Please, I don't wanna die!"

"Forget 'em." A commanding voice rings through our ears as our boss makes himself known through the communication line. It's a voice I can never forget, seeing as how it belongs to the man that kidnapped us that night ten years ago. Who would have thought that he'd end up bossing us around in our missions? "They're already Aragami chow. You've got your own jobs to do, so get to 'em." Our boss commands.

"Hurry up and let us loose." Hugo retorts to the man in a calm and civil manner. I know that Hugo doesn't like this guy either, but we've had to put up with him for a long time now. There's nothing we can do about him.

"I am now releasing the restraints on Pennywort AGEs Hound 1 and Hound 2." The man broadcasts the through communication line. These missions and communications are recorded so that the Port can determine who is at fault if a mission goes awry. Usually, it ends up being the fault of the AGEs, although I'm sure that's because AGEs are the lowest rank in the pecking order. Blaming an AGE is probably a good way of not getting into trouble. A light blue current begins to circulate through our restraints, signalling that we can now release ourselves. Hugo instantly pries his arms apart with a bit of strength. I follow right after him, allowing myself to stretch before picking up my God Arc. "Alright dogs, sick 'em." We kick our suitcases over and allow them to revert back to an active God Arc. It has always confused me how an inactive God Arc can be held within the suitcase, regardless, there's not a lot of time to worry about that. "I'm limiting your operation area. If you try to do any moonlighting… well, you know what happens." Indeed we do. We tried to escape before, but it didn't go very well.

"Yeah, we know." Hugo responds to the man before he turns his head towards me. "Shall we?" I nod my head in response. "We'll make it out of this…" Hugo, Hound 1, jumps off of the ledge before I, Hound 2, follow him.

"Follow the program you were given and acclimate to the Ashlands." Our boss instructs us. "Once you've acclimated, return immediately. Defectors will be written off. That is all." He threatens us with our lives to make sure that we follow the mission exactly. Hugo and I head towards our destination; in front of the Chapel.

"Something unexpected might happen. If it does, I'll use my own judgement." Hugo responds to the man calmly, as though he expects things won't go as smoothly as anticipated. After all, we did hear that somebody needed help. If we can _unexpectedly_ find the guy, I wouldn't mind helping them.

"Unnecessary combat may result in the loss of God Arcs, thus fighting is prohibited." Our boss mentions almost instantly to Hugo. "Proceed with test to confirm effectiveness in high ash density conditions."

"Yeah, yeah." Hugo dismisses the commander's words before turning to me as we stop in front of our destination. "How are you doing? I think I'm all right."

"Same here." I take a brief look around the place, on the lookout for any Aragami. It's important to never let your guard down. _Ever_.

"Are you disoriented? Look straight ahead for me." I guess I must have been looking around a bit too much as Hugo seems concerned for me. I look straight ahead, at him and he looks me in the eyes before dismissing the possibility of me being disoriented. "Well, you should be fine, then. Let's move. Follow me." I allow him to run ahead of me before I decide to follow. When we come to a stop, we stand directly in front of the stairs to the chapel.

"You've got no business in that rea. Move back. Another team is operating there." Our boss commands through the communication line.

"Yeah, sure. The ones with their wires crossed?" Hugo tries to fool the man by saying that we'll stay away from the area where the other team are operating in. "Keep a safe distance. Let's play it safe for now." The two of us back away from the stairs and retreat a good twenty metres. "It's funny how no matter how hairy it get, I always have fun when you're around."

"You like playing the teacher role?" I ask him out of curiosity. All he's been doing so far is checking up on me and seeing how I cope in this environment. Is that enough for him to have fun?

"Haha, I guess so. Or it's just because we're out of that prison cell." He smiles at me before he gets serious again. "Remember, if you find high ground climb on up. It's always an advantage in a fight. Looking down on Aragami crawling beneath you feels pretty good too." Either Hugo's a sadist, or he just enjoys the thrill of stealth. Whichever it is, I don't think I can share the same feeling as him. We start wandering around the area mid-way through Hugo's sentence and as we do so, I manage to find a piece of _Flawed Jewel Steel_ on the ground and pick it up.

"This is Bull 1! I'm surrounded by Aragami! Requesting salvage!" The man's voice comes through our communication line again and we turn back to the chapel.

"This is Hound 1. I'm at Point Alpha. Can you break through their line?" Hugo asks, a hand to his ear as he speaks.

"Understood. I'll get through somehow!" Bull 1 replies confidently before the line drops.

"You do not have permission to transmit. Do you want to get written up?" Our boss commands through the communication line.

"Hey, you can't blame me for being curious." As Hugo speaks, he signals to me to start running back to the stairs in front of the chapel. This will be where Bull 1 should emerge.

"Idiot…" The commander replies seeming to accept that he's lost this match. However, Hugo knows that he's going to be punished for this later.

"Still got some stamina?" He asks me to which I nod my head. "It's easy to get winded this deep in the Ashlands. Together, the two of us wait for Bull 1 to break through the Aragami barrier blocking him from us.

"Hound 1, do you read me?" It's only about a minute later that Bull 1 gets in contact with us again. "I made it through the line. En route to Point Alpha." As the man speaks, Hugo and I notice a few Aragami not too far from us. I'm not sure when they appeared, but if Bull 1 is meeting us at Point A, then we'll need to defeat the Aragami here first.

"Alright, we'll clear out the Aragami in the area. Proceed with caution." Thinking the exact same thing as me, Hugo responds to Bull 1, informing him that there are Aragami at Point A as well.

"Hugo… I owe you for this!" Bull 1 replies with sincere thanks, however, his communication line quickly disappears,

"You do not have permission to transmit." Our boss speaks again, clearly angrier than before. "Do not make me tell you again. You haven't completed the acclimation program. Proceed with your assigned mission."

"If we can fight this deep in the Ashands, who gives a crap about acclimation?" Hugo brings up a very good point. If we can prove we can fight out here, then there's no need for the acclimation program.

"You'll be disciplined for your insubordination. I hope you're ready for that." The commander seems to have given up entirely now, knowing that Hugo knows he will be punished.

"Sure, whatever you say. Now quit looking over my shoulder. Saying we're fighting in dense ash is enough of an excuse, right?"

"You'll regret this." With the two of us now confident that we can attack without our commander interfering, we get to it.

First, the two Aragami that appeared are both of the same species: Axe Raider. They're mainly known for charging straight at their targets and try to kill their target by either crushing them under their weight or by impaling them against their horns. It's fairly easy to telegraph their attacks. Thus, it's easy to get into a decent rhythm against them. Land a few attacks, like the swinging to my Heavy Moon God Arc, then sidestep away from danger. After that, you follow the beast as it charges in the direction you sidestepped away from and land a few more attacks before repeating the same thing.

"Good you took the initiative. You seem comfortable enough in a fight." Hugo comments before we charge after the second Axe Raider. "You can fight in Gun Form too. See if you can transform for me." I do as Hugo requests and transform my Arc into its Gun Form, a laser gun. I fire the laser at the Axe Raider, making sure to constantly be on the move around it so that it doesn't decide to charge after me while I'm using the gun. After all, I don't have access to my shield this way. The laser grows thicker and more damaging the longer it focuses on the Aragami. However, my God Arc eventually runs out of Oracle Points so I'm forced to switch back to Melee Form and repeat my previous tactic of two hits then sidestep. The Axe Raider falls quickly thereafter. "Fighting in blade form restores your OP supply." Hugo mentions as I extract the cores of the two beasts we defeated. Immediately after, I check my God Arc and see that some Oracle Points have indeed been restored. Not a lot, but some. "Bull 1, come in. This is Hound 1. All Aragami eliminated." Hugo mentions as we stare back at the Chapel.

"This is Bull 1. Arriving at Point Alpha soon." A few minutes pass by before we see a figure leaving the chapel. They head straight towards us. "Thanks a ton. I thought I was a goner this time." The man pants heavily as he stops in front of us.

"Don't give up so easily." Hugo remarks. "Nobody's got time to wipe your nose for ya here." The man nods as he regains his breath. " 'Kay. Time to head home and get in our cells." Hugo mentions and we begin the long walk back to Port Pennywort.


End file.
